Automatic tank selector



R. E. WINDERS AUTOMATIC TANK SELECTOR Original Filed Jan. 31, 1956 Feb. 5, 1963 2 Sheets-Shut 1.

Feb. 5, 1963 R. E. WINDERS mwoumc TANK SELECTOR Original Filed Jan. 31. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (mm W y v mwww United States Patent AUTOMATIC TANK SELECTOR R'aymondE. Winders, Houma, naa 'assignur to Texaco Inc., New York, N.Y.,'a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No. 562,429, Jan. 31, 1956. This application Jan 12,1960, Ser. No. 3,228 4 Claims. (Cl. 137-62511) M Thisinvention'is an improvement over prior automatictank selectors in that it 'is "les's'bulky, requires less space, and eliminates several parts formerly necessary in this type of device.

In addition, his inventionprovides for a 'selectorvalve structure that is superior in its simplicity and long wearing qualities; The valve aceordlng to-the invention has structure which facilitates repair and replacement of parts, infad'dition' to providing for compensation for wear throughout the life ofthe valve structure. s The present invention may be described as an automatic tank selector comprising a multi-port, distributor valve having a rotarydistributing element or fluid conduit which willcoriduct 'fiuid from the .inlet port to any of the outlet ports of the valve, a plurality of radially mounted protractile members, a rotary stop element which may take a variety of romnsuch as either an arm membet or a disk member having a projecting stop member extending radially therefrom which is sequentially engageable with saidprotractile members, and a common driving means for the rotary distribuing element of said distributor valve and the stop element whereby the rotation of said distributing element will cease when saidstop element engages one of said protractil'e members. The common driving means referred to above can be, for iristance, a drive shaft which rotates the distributingelernent and stop element simultaneously, the drive shaft being driven by a pneumatic m'otoror the ilke.

Briefly, the invention'may be described as an automatic tank selector. Such tank selector comprises acompact distributor valve assemblyincluding a plurality of radially disposed outlet ports around a central inlet port. All of the said outlet ports terminate in a common plane, and the said plane is substantially perpendicular to the axis of said inlet. port. The tank selector also comprises a fluid distributing rotor including therein means for connecting said inlet port to a predetermined'one only of said outlet ports. The connecting means has ahollow piston that is adapted for registration with each of said outlet ports, and it has a cylinder containing said piston. The valve assembly also comprises means for rotating said rotor in order to connect any of said" outlet ports with said inlet port. It also has means for selecting one of said outlet ports, includinga' plurality of protractile members disposed radially around said inlet port. One of said protractile members corresponds'with each outlet port. In addition, the assembly comprises a rotary stop element connected to said distributing rotor and sequentially erigafgeable with said protractile member when in protracted position, whereby the rotation of said rotor is caused 'to stop when said stop element engages one'of said protractile members. Finally, the assembly also comprises'a motor for driving said rotor and rotarystop element. The valve of the present invention can 'be used either to direct the full oil flow to tankage' or' as a-pilot selector a 3,076,478 Patented Feb. 5, 1963 ice valve which supplies fluid under pressure (usually gas) to actuate inletv'alves which in turn control the oil flow to their respective tanks.

In further' explanation of'th present invention, the following description is presented with accompanying drawings inwhich FIG. 1 is a 'fr'ont'view of thetank selector mechanisrnjFIG. 2is a'sideview; FIG. 3 is'an' enlarged partial sectional side view; and FIG. 4 is an ele vational viewof some'elements of the switch assembly.

With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the tank sel'e'ctor,'broadly designated as 2, comprises base 4 on which the assembly is mounted, and face plate 6 which has a plurality of radially situated fluid outlet ports 8 disposed in its face to which outlet conduits 10 are connected and an inlet port'12 at the center thereof to which internally threaded inlet connecting conduit 14 is secured.

In FIG. 2'the valve assembly cylindrical housing 16 is secured between the face plate 6 and back plate 7. The back of the tank'sel'ect'or holds an air motor 70 and switch assemblies 64 (only one shown on FIG. 2') corresponding to the number of outlet ports. The switch assemblies willbe more fully described hereinafter. 7

FIG. 3 is a sectional view particularly showing the 'va'lve'a'ssembly. Front and back plates 6 and 7 are secured to housing 16 by nuts and bolts or the like through holes 18. Within housing 16, a cylindrical rotary distributing element20 is rotatably mounted at inlet port 12 "by means of integral conduit or distributing cylinder inlet port 22. The rotary distributingelement may take variousforms, 'such'a's the hollow cylinder having an inlet port 22 aligned with the inlet port 12 for fluid" passage and'an outlet valve assembly, broadly designated as 31 as shown'in the drawings, a solid cylinder with a fluid conduit boredtherein with inlet and outlet ports or a tubular member pivotally connected to the inlet port 12 and adapted to'dcliverfluid to anyone of the outlet ports individually. However, the preferred form of rotary distributing element is as'shown in the drawings since the performance of this type of distributor has proven to be excellent. The rotary distributing cylinder 20 is supported at its axis or center to drive shaft 24 which extends through back'plate 7. The'conduit 22 and shaft 24 are supported in the face and back plates 6 and 7 by ball bearing as semblies 26 and 28, respectively. Conduit 22 has several resilient O-rings 30 mounted about its outer periphery to effect a leak proof inlet connection.

The distributing cylinder outlet valve assembly of the preferred form of the invention, broadly designated as 31, comprises the outer housing 32 which is secured'to the rotary distributing cylinder 20 by bolt means or the like at 34 and sealed with gasket 36, valve proper38 which has several O-rings 40 about its outer'perip'hery and an O-ring 42 situated on its seating surface to efiect "a'se'aled connection at this point, and inner housing 44 'in place and create a more even distribution of force.

The face plate 6 advantageously has secured to its inner surface" a sheet of Teflon 43, a tetrafluoroethyleneinert resin, to afiord asmooth'surface over which 0' ring 42 may slide. The springs 49 will automatically adjust the contact position of the valve 38 so'that a leak-proof connection will be maintained even if O-ring 42 wears unevenly. Opening 52 in rotary distributing cylinder 20 is provided for the insertion of the valve assembly 31. This opening 52 is sealed by gasket 54 and cover plate 56 with bolt means or the like at 58.

A side view of the preferred form of the selector switch assembly is shown in FIG. 2, and a front view is shown in FIG. 4. Rotary stop element, broadly designated as 60, is secured for rotation to drive shaft 24 by means of setscrew 61. The stop element 60 is positioned on shaft 24 so that when it is engaged with one of the protractile members, the outlet port 31 of the distributing cylinder 20 is properly aligned for leak-proof fluid flow with one of the outlet ports 8. The rotary stop e ement 60 as shown consists of a disk 62 and a projecting element 63 extending outwardly therefrom. This rotary stop element may also be constructed in the form of an arm member extending from shaft 24. A plurality of protractile members, broadly designated as 64 each comprising a piston housing 65, a fluid pressure actuated spring 67 biased piston 66 which has its arm connected to a pivoted latch or locking arm 68 are radially mounted about the shaft 24 on plate 7. One of these protactile members is provided for each outlet port on the distributor valve as shown in FIG. 1.

The present arrangement of the selector switch assembly provides a less bulky tank selector and eliminates the use of a long cylinder or the like having a series of lugs which sequentially engage a number of retractable elements positioned in a row.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the driving motor 70 is shown attached to the tank selector 2. Motor 70 drives the tank selector by means of worm gear 72 on shaft 71. Worm gear 72 meshes with drive gear 74 which is axially secured to drive shaft 24. The motor shown and used in the preferred embodiment of the invention is a four cylinder air motor supplied by any constant gas source.

Operation of the tank selector is as follows:

As stated, a constant supply of gas or air is furnished the air motor 70 at a given pressure in order to provide a positive rotation to the rotary distributing cylinder 20 and the rotary stop element 60.

The protractile members 64 may, for example, be actuated by a gas or air supply controlled by a three-way pilot valve actuated by a float level indicator in an oil tank (not shown) so that when the tank is full, the float will causse the pilot valve to close preventing further gas flow and allowing the gas to be bled from piston housing 65. Spring 67 will then retract piston 66 pulling pivoted latch 68 out of engagement with projecting element 63. Disk 60, shaft 24, and rotary distributing element 20 will then all rotate simultaneously until the projecting element 63 engages another latch which is in the protracted position because a tank is either empty or does not have sufficient oil therein to raise the float to activate the pilot valve.

When the stop element 60 is engaged with the protractile member 64, the valve 38, in distributing cylinder outlet port 31 mounted in the rotary distributing element 20, is seated over one of the outlet ports 8 so that a fluid (oil when the valve is used to distribute oil directly, and a gas when the valve is used as a distributing pilot valve to send gas to a diaphragm actuated oil flow valve) will flow through conduit 10 to either a tank or a diaphragm actuated oil flow inlet valve on a tank. The tank in either case will be the one containing the float which will cause the protractile member 64 now in engagement with the stop element 60 to retract when the tank is filled allowing the tank selector to rotate to the next stop.

The number of tanks which may be serviced by this tank selector is for all practical purposes unlimited and depends only on the size of the tank selector as to its ability to accommodate any number of outlet ports and protractile members.

The size of the motor 70 and the radio of the gears 72 and 74 which'can be used depends on the power needed for the job to be done. Other types of motors may also be used as a driving force, such as hydraulic, electric, mechanical, and combustion engines. Of course, in the latter cases some modification in the driving connection would be made, such as a a slip clutch or the like. The pneumatic motor is preferred, however, since the power source can be obtained without any fire hazards and there is relatively little danger of power failure or shortage.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3, it will be observed that the valve for contacting each of the outlet ports is in effect comprised of a hollow piston that slides within a cylinder. Furthermore, this hollow piston is urged against the face plate 43 where all of the outlet ports terminate. This hollow piston is the valve element 38, and the cylinder is the cylindrical inner opening within housing element 32.

It will be observed that the hollow piston element 38 is urged into contact with the plane surface or face of the plate 43 by a fluid pressure effect, in addition to the urging caused by the springs 49. Such fluid pressure effect is caused by the area of the piston 38 that is exposed to the pressure of the flowing fluid passing through the hollow thereof. This area is somewhat greater than the area at the outlet end of the hollow cylinder 38, where the O-ring 42 is located.

In this regard it is pointed out that, particularly where the valve according to this invention is to be employed as a pneumatic distributor element only, the hollow opening through the cylinder element may be of a smaller diameter and thus the area of the hollow piston that is exposed to the pressure of the fluid flowing therethrough would be greater. Under such circumstances, the springs 49 and the structure associated therewith might be entirely eliminated.

Where a valve according to the present invention is employed to direct the full oil flow to tankage, there is a substantial saving in cost by the elimination of at least one remote control type valve at each tank. Heretofore, available types of selector valves have had relatively short life on account of wear; and repair of such types involved major overhaul of the valve structure.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the invention, as hereinbefore set forth, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and, therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. An automatic tank selector comprising a compact distributor valve assembly including a cylindrical housing having a plurality of radially disposed outlet ports around a central inlet port, a face plate for containing said outlet ports with the termination of all thereof in a common plane, said plane lying substantially perpendicular to the axis of said inlet port, said outlet ports being disposed on the same side of said housing as said inlet port, a fluid distributing rotor element having a cylindrical configuration and having an inlet and an outlet therein and being adapted for rotation within the housing, said housing inlet port and said inlet of said distributing element being aligned for fluid passage therethrough, said outlet of said distributing element being adapted to be sequentially aligned with each of said outlet ports, wear compensating structure at the outlet of said fluid distributing element including a hollow piston longitudinally slidable within a cylinder carried by said distributing element, means for urging said piston into contact with said face plate, a drive shaft integrally attached along the axis of said distributing element and extending outwards from the other side of said housing relative to said inlet and outlet ports, a plurality of protractile members radially mounted around said drive shaft, a rotary stop element secured to said drive shaft and sequentially engageable with said protactile members when in the protracted position whereby the rotation of said distributing element is caused to stop when said stop element engages one of said protractile members, and a motor for driving said drive shaft.

2. An automatic tank selector comprising a compact distributor valve assembly including a cylindrical housing having a plurality of radially disposed outlet ports around a central inlet port, a face plate for containing said outlet ports with the termination of all thereof in a common plane, said plane lying substantially perpendicular to the axis of said inlet port, said outlet ports being disposed on the same side of said housing as said inlet port, a hollow cylindrical distributing element having an axial inlet coaxially aligned with said inlet port, said distributing element being adapted for rotation within the housing, an outlet for said distributing element being adapted to be sequentially aligned with each of said outlet ports, a wear compensating structure at said outlet of the fluid distributing element, said wear compensating structure including a hollow piston longitudinally slidable within a cylinder carried by said distributing element, means for urging said piston into contact with said face plate, means for gaining access to said wear compensating structure for replacement thereof, a drive shaft integrally attached along the axis of said distributing element and extending outwards from the other side of said housing relative to said inlet and outlet ports, a plurality of protractile members radially mounted around said drive shaft, a rotary stop element secured to said drive shaft and sequentially engageable with said protactile members when in the protracted position whereby the rotation of said distributing element is caused to stop when said stop element engages one of said protractile members, and a motor for driving said drive shaft.

3. An automatic tank selector comprising a compact distributor valve assembly including a cylindrical housing having a plurality of radially disposed outlet ports around a central inlet port, a face plate for containing said outlet ports with the termination of all thereof in a common plane, said plane lying substantially perpendicular to the axis of said inlet port, said outlet ports being disposed on the same side of said housing as said inlet port, a hollow cylindrical distributing element having an axial inlet c0- axially aligned with said inlet port, said distributing element being adapted for rotaion within said housing, an outlet for said distributing element being adapted to be sequentially aligned with each of said outlet ports, a wear compensating structure at said outlet of the fluid distributing element, said wear compensating structure comprising a hollow piston longitudinally slidable within a cylinder carried by said distributing element, spring means for urging said piston into contact with said face plate, perforate means for supporting said spring means on the side of said distributing element adjacent to said outlet ports, means for gaining access to said wear compensating structure for replacement thereof, said access gaining means being located on the other side of said distributing element from said outlet ports, a drive shaft integrally attached along the axis of said distributing element and extending outwards from the other side of said housing relative to said inlet and outlet ports, a plurality of protractile members radially mounted around said drive shaft, a rotary stop element secured to said drive shaft and sequentially engageable with said protractile members when in the protracted position whereby the rotation of said distributing element is caused to stop when said stop element engages one of said protractile members, and a motor for driving said drive shaft.

4. An automatic tank selector comprising a compact distributor valve assembly including a cylindrical housing having a plurality of radially disposed outlet ports around a central inlet port, a face plate for containing said outlet ports with the termination of all thereof in a common plane, said plane lying substantially perpendicular to the axis of said inlet port, said outlet ports being disposed on the same side of said housing as said inlet port, a hol low relatively shallow cylindrical distributing element having an axial inlet coaxially aligned in a fluid sealing manner with said inlet port, said distributing element being adapted for rotation within the housing, an outlet carried by said distributing element for connecting the hollow interior thereof with each of said outlet ports sequentially, wear compensating structure at said outlet, said wear compensating structure comprising a hollow piston longitudinally slidable within a cylinder carried by said distributing element, a plurality of springs for urging said piston into contact with said face plate, perforate cover structure supporting said springs adjacent to said outlet, an access opening on the other side of said distributing element from said outlet, a cover plate for closing said access opening during operation of the tank selector, a drive shaft integrally attached along the axis of said distributing element and extending outward from the other side of said housing relative to said inlet and outlet ports, a plurality of protractile members radially mounted around said drive shaft, a rotary disc stop element secured to said drive shaft and having a stop lug thereon sequentially engageable with said protractile members when in the protracted position whereby the rotation of said distributing element is caused to stop when said lug stop engages one of said protractile members, and a motor for driving said drive shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 664,455 Baker Dec. 25, 1900 1,606,245 Lang Nov. 9, 1926 2,186,657 Saussure J an. 9, 1940 2,533,931 Hartley Dec. 12, 1950 2,593,733 Davies Apr. 22, 1952 2,700,280 Heuser Jan. 25, 1955 2,742,918 Irving Apr. 24, 1956 

1. AN AUTOMATIC TANK SELECTOR COMPRISING A COMPACT DISTRIBUTOR VALVE ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A CYLINDRICAL HOUSING HAVING A PLURALITY OF RADIALLY DISPOSED OUTLET PORTS AROUND A CENTRAL INLET PORT, A FACE PLATE FOR CONTAINING SAID OUTLET PORTS WITH THE TERMINATION OF ALL THEREOF IN A COMMON PLANE, SAID PLANE LYING SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS OF SAID INLET PORT, SAID OUTLET PORTS BEING DISPOSED ON THE SAME SIDE OF SAID HOUSING AS SAID INLET PORT, A FLUID DISTRIBUTING ROTOR ELEMENT HAVING A CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION AND HAVING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET THEREIN AND BEING ADAPTED FOR ROTATION WITHIN THE HOUSING, SAID HOUSING INLET PORT AND SAID INLET OF SAID DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT BEING ALIGNED FOR FLUID PASSAGE THERETHROUGH, SAID OUTLET OF SAID DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT BEING ADAPTED TO BE SEQUENTIALLY ALIGNED WITH EACH OF SAID OUTLET PORTS, WEAR COMPENSATING STRUCTURE AT THE OUTLET OF SAID FLUID DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT INCLUDING A HOLLOW PISTON LONGITUDINALLY SLIDABLE WITHIN A CYLINDER CARRIED BY SAID DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT, MEANS FOR URGING SAID PISTON INTO CONTACT WITH SAID FACE PLATE, A DRIVE SHAFT INTEGRALLY ATTACHED ALONG THE AXIS OF SAID DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT AND EXTENDING OUTWARDS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID HOUSING RELATIVE TO SAID INLET AND OUTLET PORTS, A PLURALITY OF PROTRACTILE MEMBERS RADIALLY MOUNTED AROUND SAID DRIVE SHAFT, A ROTARY STOP ELEMENT SECURED TO SAID DRIVE SHAFT AND SEQUENTIALLY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PROTACTILE MEMBERS WHEN IN THE PROTRACTED POSITION WHEREBY THE ROTATION OF SAID DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT IS CAUSED TO STOP WHEN SAID STOP ELEMENT ENGAGES ONE OF SAID PROTRACTILE MEMBERS, AND A MOTOR FOR DRIVING SAID DRIVE SHAFT. 